Ford Adds 900 New Jobs Due to Spike in F-Series Demand

The Ford F-Series has been a perennial best-seller for years now, and it's not showing any signs of slowing down. After previously announcing it will boost annual capacity for the pickup by 200,000 more units, Ford will soon add a third crew to its Kansas City Assembly plant in Missouri to meet the increase in demand.

The third crew will consist of 900 new workers who will build the F-150, which once again, topped the sales chart in July, selling 60,449 units for year-to-date total of 427,935 units. For comparison, the Chevrolet Silverado, which was the second-best selling vehicle last month, has sold 284,666 so far this year.

Additionally, Ford is creating about 1000 more jobs at the same plant to help launch the all-new Transit van, which will start production early next year. The automaker is currently expanding and retooling its Kansas City plant as part of an $11 billion investment for production of the Transit van.

As we've reported, the new 2014 Transit utilizes a unibody structure and will be powered by Ford's familiar 3.7-liter DOHC V-6, or the optional 3.5-liter, twin-turbocharged EcoBoost V-6. Customers demanding a diesel can opt for a 3.2-liter five-cylinder turbodiesel. While sold in Europe under the DuraTorq name, the engine will be labeled as a Power Stroke in North America. Regardless of the engine choice, all U.S.-spec Transit models will utilize a six-speed automatic transmission.